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Standing Tall

Keith Mosher was lost in the world for most of his life, not sure if God existed or who he was. At the age of 35 that all changed when Jesus Christ made himself known in a way Keith could not deny. Now Keith is a Christian writer and Apologist who spends his time defending the faith, encouraging other Christian believers and serving in his local church.

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Why Atheists Love To Play Word Games

Have you ever wondered why Atheists love to play word games? They spend a great deal of time and energy trying to convince the world that they are NOT MAKING A TRUTH claim or statement, when they say there are no gods.

They LOVE to say this, almost to the point of annoyance (OK very far past that point) but what they are doing is JUST that. First, to get to the bottom of this, we have to define what a TRUTH claim or statement means. Here is one definition:

“A truth claim is a proposition or statement that a particular person or belief system holds to be true.”

Another way I might phrase it, if a question can be answered with either a TRUE or FALSE answer, and you hold the TRUE position, then by golly you have made a truth statement. Now let’s apply this to Atheism:

God Does Not Exist. This is either a TRUE of FALSE statement. We may not be able to ascertain the answer, but there cannot be a third option. Or the question, Does God Exist? Is either YES or NO (TRUE or FALSE) again there is no third option.

Atheism is not an affirmative belief that there is no god nor does it answer any other question about what a person believes. It is simply a rejection of the assertion that there are gods. Atheism is too often defined incorrectly as a belief system. To be clear: Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods.

Older dictionaries define atheism as “a belief that there is no God.” Clearly, theistic influence taints these definitions. The fact that dictionaries define Atheism as “there is no God” betrays the (mono)theistic influence. Without the (mono)theistic influence, the definition would at least read “there are no gods.”

Read that second line again. It is the REJECTION of the ASSERTION that there are gods. So if I say to the American Atheists… Jesus is God. They REJECT that, which means they say NO he is not. They don’t say, well maybe… or the verdict is still out. They flat out say, NO he is not. Beyond the God of the Bible, they flat out reject the existence of ANY gods. So the first line in their statement is PATENTLY false. They hold an AFFIRMATIVE BELIEF (a statement of agreement with an assertion) that there are no gods, because they flat out reject the contrary.

In the second paragraph they claim the dictionary definition is tainted. Let me ask you a question, if Atheists DO NOT believe there is no god… why are these Billboards popping up across the country???

So we KNOW Atheists love to play this game, but why?

The answer can be found above… from the American Atheist website where they state… “Atheism is too often defined incorrectly as a belief system.”

Atheists ARE desperate to avoid atheism being classified as a belief system (which it most certainly is). Do you believe there is no God? Yes? That is a belief system. Just like if you ask me… do I believe leprechauns exist? No I do not. Therefore I BELIEVE that leprechauns do not exist. If one jumps out of my closet I am free to change my beliefs. But I am not free to deny I have a belief in the first place.

So what is the root cause of atheists desperately trying to avoid this label? They don’t want to deal with what FOLLOWS. You see to have a belief in something you cannot prove one way or another… requires FAITH, and they hate that word. They want the religious to carry that banner all alone because they see it as our biggest weakness.

As a man who once called himself an atheist/agnostic and now calls himself a Christian I have had faith all my life, those that claim otherwise… well maybe they are just in denial, or perhaps, as with the American Atheists they have a well orchestrated agenda.

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Most atheists I know just reject the theists claim of a god. For me, there has never been enough evidence for me to believe in a god. It is a rejection of your belief. If new evidence becomes available in the future, I will assess the theists claim again. I am not making a truth claim, the theist is.

Similar to various theistic beliefs, you will have various atheist views. I’m sure many atheists claim there is no god. The theist will claim that for an atheist to know their is no god, they have to be omniscient. The same could be said about the theist who claims there is a god.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts David. I guess the only question I would ask you is this… Do you believe in God? If the answer is no, then you have a belief that is all your own. You don’t need a theist around to have it. To make a clearer statement, if we follow your rules…. a person who has never met a theist or been exposed to theism, can simply not be an atheist. They would have nothing to reject. But we know that is simply untrue. Anyone can be an atheist.

Hmm, Do I believe in God? That’s a good question. There are many definitions of god, gods, Gods, perhaps you could offer me a short snippet definition of your god and perhaps offer me proof so I can evaluate your truth claim.

How does David have ‘… a Belief all his own…” or a belief at all if he has told you he doesn’t believe in God or gods? He’s given you clearly his definition and a testimony from his own life and experience of knowing and interacting with other atheists and what they say for themselves. Yet you seem to be the one playing word games by asserting that Non Belief is a Belief all its own… as if to not believe in go or gods is the same as Believing that they don’t exist… a Positive belief that would need to be defended. You are playing word games by creating a controversy that, although it might give you some kind of rhetorical leverage so you can avoid your own responsibility to defend your positive claim, is not a real controversy if you respected people to speak for themselves and not just erect “straw men” for them that they arent claiming.
Dishonest, disrespectful, rude and arrogant brother Keith. Clean it up. -kia

There you go calling people rude again, when you told me earlier, 11 years of a walk with Christ could not possibly measure up to your phenomenal 25 years of magnificent knowledge.

You even go on to call me prideful, when you exude pride. Then you go on to tell me how to manage my website? Really?

KIA – you have never desired a legitimate discourse… you simply want to feel big, and better and smarter than others, particularly Christians. As I stated to you before, I do not have the time to spend on puffing up your ego. But thank you for visiting.

I believe Leprechauns do not exist. That is MY BELIEF. That is a stated belief I have about reality, which may or may not be true. I am not rejecting someone else’s idea that Leprechauns do exist, I have never met that person. It is irrelevant. Part of my BELIEF SYSTEM is that the little green buggers are not real. I own that belief proudly, I am not ashamed of it.

Coolio. That would be you and your belief about leprechauns. Atheists do not “believe that there is no god”. David as much told you so, yet you inexplicably, on a post about atheists playing word games, play the word game of telling them that they do have a Belief of their own. Presumably from your own example, you would continue to argue that atheist Believe that God does not exist, just the same as you believe that leprechauns don’t. Not Believing something is not the same as Believing either something contrary or anything at all regarding God or gods. Do you understand the difference?

“Belief systems are the stories we tell ourselves to define our personal sense of Reality. Every human being has a belief system that they utilize, and it is through this mechanism that we individually, “make sense” of the world around us.”- J.L. Usó-Doménech and J. Nescolarde-Selva, Department of Applied Mathematics. University of Alicante.

Brother Keith, you’ve made a poor assumption that Atheism is a world view or a belief system. Atheism is an answer to one question and one question only. “Do you Believe in God or gods?” To which the atheist answers “no, I do not believe”. They do not answer “I believe that God or gods do not exist”.
Do you understand the difference?

David, i think Keith is just ignoring my comments because he doesn’t want to admit he understands the difference, or he doesn’t want to admit that He’s going with his false narrative anyway. Either way… it’s dishonest. Glad to meet you by the way brother david.

However if you agree your “position” is a BELIEF…. or I will even take a “portion” of your system of beliefs THEN you win the grand prize of absolutely nothing. Other than a years subscription to FREE posting in the comments section of my blog. Any article, any time. It’s quite the prize.

So, I am literally taking the position you say atheists never take, I’m making the positive claim you seem so upset about being dodged on, and now, with the ability to use this platform to demonstrate your point, you plan to dodge?

Huh? I haven’t admitted anything. I haven’t even made a point. All I did was call you out. I gave you the magic moment you whined about never having in your article, and you ran away. I set the pins up for you exactly as you imagined them to be, and you still dodged and hid and tossed weird quotes.

You couldn’t even defend the very straw man you have set up in this article. You are demonstrably unfit to defend your faith.

Dude, we are intellectually honest. You’re the ones making claims with the equivalent of magic beans and hearing voices in your support of your claims validity.

Word games. That’s rich. Language is our preferred communication modality.
It’s not our fault we are stuck with a unassailable position on the God question.

Are you ready?

Drumroll please.

Dramatic pause………. Wait for it……

I don’t know.

It’s not fun playing this silly word game with you. Point of fact is I find the entire experience to be depressing. It’s literally the same empathetic response I have for someone suffering from lyricosus. A well studied song lyrics disorder. Help is available however most sufferers seem oblivious to their proclivity.

Remember to zip up and check your soul for trailing TP. We worry about you. I mean that literally.

nationofhope, thank you for stopping by and sharing that you are exactly NOT who this article is directed towards. Many atheists like yourself take the position of “I don’t know” which is a fair position.

But this article is for that other breed of atheist or other branch of evolution that declares proudly “there is NO God” much like the billboard above.

As far as evidence for God’s handiwork, there are VAST troves of evidence in all fields of scientific study that declare God’s amazing design. What you choose to see when you look at that evidence is entirely up to you.

Judging by the monkey face of your avatar, I think we can guess.

But do you really believe your great, great, great, great, great x423………….. grand pappy was a chimp-like creature??

Its a shame you don’t see yourself as God sees you. Real shame.

You are not a product of natural selection. You were made in the image of God. Nature doesn’t select anything. It’s just nature.

I made truth claims during my 30+ years as a Christian. Once I quit believing, I quit making truth claims. I just no longer believe. It doesn’t take “faith” for me to not believe. Nor do I want to convince anyone.

My brother found a lot of food for his atheist thoughts in the literature he got while living in Minnesota. I like the story I was told-true or not-the atheists went to court protesting the fact they didn’t have their own holiday. The wise judge declared they already had a day in their honor, April 1st : A fool says in their heart there is no God; so April Fools is already your holiday! How many learned men/women have set out to prove there is no God and ended up finding overwhelming evidence that He’s real???

Welcome. My blog is a place where readers will find writings of personal experiences, thoughts, and the peace that the Lord provides throughout my walk. I intend to bring inspiration and insight, as well as providing a very personal and transparent view into my life, in order to help others see their own lives in a different perspective. I strongly believe that we all need a different view at times, in order for our own personal growth to take place.